About Arts Awareness

About Arts Awareness

Arts Awareness is a term I use to describe the multilayered meaning that can come from learning in the arts.

It is a call to action for artists, educators, administrators, parents, arts advocates, and lobbyists to step into the new paradigm of this century and take full advantage of the opportunities that are here now.

It is about benefitting from the very basic principles at the heart of creating or performing art and using them to lead each other to personal fulfillment and professional success.

It is using the arts not only as a form of expression and to gain a deeper understanding of the beauty in the art form, but to widen the application of those natural principles that create that beauty.

As a musician and conductor, educator, and administrator, I know in my heart the power of the arts—how they are essential to a well-rounded education, how the basic principles of artistic expression provide effective tools to positively influence everything in daily life, and how experiences in the arts lead to awareness and inner knowing.

In my book—also titled Arts Awareness because it outlines the basic concepts of my worldview perspective of the arts—you will learn the seven creative concepts that will help you synthesize the richness of creating art with teaching, leading, succeeding, and living a more fulfilling life. At a time when the world has shifted dramatically and people everywhere are looking for new ways to reach out, to interact, and to share their inner spirit with the world, the seven concepts provide a foundation for moving forward with renewed enthusiasm and strength. Teachers will find new ways of engaging students and the community in not only understanding the arts more deeply, but in using them as a tool for lifelong learning. At the same time, you will uncover new ways to expand your own professional growth. Parents will find ways to help their children succeed in a world that is unlike anything they themselves have ever experienced. Administrators and leaders will discover the possibilities for guiding others in the ever-evolving complexity of organizational life. Advocates and lobbyists will find the new ways to promote the value of the arts.

People can only know the true power of the arts by experiencing and perceiving the creative consciousness that comes from making and performing art. In the book, Arts Awareness, the reader—and those they teach and lead—will discover how to connect the empowering aspects of artistic expression to making uniquely individual choices in everyday life. By using the seven concepts in a systematic way, readers will see and feel through the eyes and ears of an artist and use that awareness in their lives.